Colorado Blues
 

Hello, I just subscribed to Bananas.org.

I live in Colorado at 7500' elevation. I mention this because it is a cold, very dry climate. (38 degrees this morning.)

I bought a dwarf banana tree several months ago and put it in a container, planning on having something green in my sunroom this winter.

It is growing on my patio, but poorly. The leaves emerge and right away start turning ugly brown on the edges, causing the leaves to distort.

I know little about raising a banana tree, but I suspect the prevailing humidity of 20% is causing the leaves to dry up.

I would appreciate any advice you might wish to offer, including negative comments. Thanks.

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Hello & Welcome John from the Sportsman's Paradise. We have a photo gallery where you can upload pic's.. More information about your high temps are helpful too. Seeing is believing. The experts can diagnose a good pic better than a description. :^)

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Welcome to the site! Hope you enjoy it here and learn a lot from the members/resources we have here.

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Welcome from California good luck

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Hi John, and welcome to Bananas.org! You are probably dead-on correct with your analysis of the challenge of growing bananas in Colorado. You can always sight for extra sunlight and warmth, but the humidity issue is a huge challenge to be sure. My best advice would be to place your container in a large, fairly deep tray, in which you have put a layer of gravel. Fill the tray (probably daily with such low daily humidity) so that moisture will be rising upward around the banana as it evaporates of the water and gravel. Alternately, but a little more contrived perhaps, would to be place your main container (pot) within a second, larger container, creating a humid, calm zone around the main container. Controlling the effects of wind and sun dessication will certainly help, although may require less than stunning aesthetics. I'm a recent new arrival to Vancouver Island, having moved from southern Alberta, which is very similar climatically to Colorado. It's amazing what will grow here, and which were just statistics in a harsh climate such as you have to contend with. Good luck, don't give up, there is always a way if there's a will!:08:

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Hello from another Colorado banana grower!
I keep my nanners inside, so I can't help much with that... they live next to a large aquarium, which also helps. Just wanted to say Hi. ^^

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Welcome to the forum! You should take a photo, of your banana plant, and start a new thread in "Banana Identification" to find out what type of banana plant you actually have. The "wiki" section [white letters in the solid blue line at the top of this page] has a section for each type of banana plant that gives lots of information! Anyway, 38 degrees sounds a little cold. I also learned, since I joined here, that keeping a banana too wet in cold weather can hurt it.
Ask any questions you need to. I'm a newbie too but the other members are very helpful and have lots of expert information!

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Hey John,
Welcome. Although I currently live in Hawaii, I'm actually from Colorado where I spent the first 4 years of my banana growing (in Nederland, just west of Boulder in the mountains, 8,300ft elevation). I know it can be frustrating at times, but if you put enough in them, they can reward you. I had multiple plants flower and give fruit indoors. The key is to give them lots of sunlight, but them in big containers, never expose them to freezing temperatures, and maximize the amount of heat the receive, especially in the summer.

Low humidity does not often cause leaf damage, it can be easily compensated for by making sure the soil is moist enough. Cold will damage the leaves however, and although 38 is not enough to kill the plant, it will certainly damage the tender new leaves, especially on common (non-hardy) varieties. Active growth occurs above 60 for most varieties, to give you an idea of what you should be aiming for. Also, the normal growth rate is about 1 leaf per week, so anything less than that means its probably too cold or not getting enough sun, or both.

If you have any questions about bananas in Colorado (where to buy plants, where to see them fruiting etc...), you can contact me directly. If you have any other general questions about bananas, don't hesitate to post in the main forum, we're all hear to learn and help others learn.

Re: Colorado Blues
 

Welcome!:waving: